How It Works
Everything you need to bring a group.
Cost, registration, logistics, deadlines, and more — all in one place.
Cost
For a five night trip, your total cost will be between $400 and $450 depending on the location of your trip. You will also have the option of adding an additional night to make it a six night trip. This includes all of your housing, food (with the exception of one evening meal on your night off), ministry itinerary, ministry supplies and on-site staff to guide your team through your missions experience. For specific cost by location, see our locations page.
Team Structure
If you will be bringing a group of more than 12 people, we will have you help us divide your group into separate teams for our ministry time. Smaller team sizes help each participant play a more important role on the team and can be much easier for our partner ministries to handle. Having 12 or less people on each ministry team will also create a more open atmosphere for the debriefing times with the Kaleo staff. Keeping the teams small helps ensure that all students are a part of the team and are able to be personally challenged.
Leader/Student Ratio
You will need to send one leader for each 5 students. Minimum participant age is 12 for San Diego, Portland, New York, and Jackson (exceptions may be made for family groups). In New Orleans, the minimum age is 14.
Trip Length
The standard lengths of our Spring Break and summer trips are 5–6 nights, depending on your availability. However, if you are interested in other dates throughout the year, the length of trips are more flexible.
What Are You Responsible For
You will need to provide for your own gas and meals while in travel to the city, one meal on your night off, your transportation for the duration of the trip, your own health insurance, souvenirs, recreational expenses, and parking expenses. If your group is over 12 people and needs to be divided, you will need to arrange for separate transportation for each team.
Registration
Sign up your team by clicking here to go to our online registration. After you register, we will contact you to let you know if your particular dates are available and your application is approved. If you would prefer, you can call us at 940-367-6464 to verify availability prior to registering. Once your trip has been approved, you will need to make a deposit of one night’s cost per person in order to reserve your trip. We accept payment by card, ACH transfer, or check. Groups will be guaranteed space on a first come, first served basis based on when their payment arrives.
Confirmation & Communication
When registering, you’ll designate a “primary contact” for your group. The primary contact will receive all mission trip communications and will be responsible for completing the required checklist items through their Kaleo dashboard, including forms and documents, at least two weeks before your trip starts.
Housing
We have well-situated housing available to us in each of our cities. Contact us if you have questions about housing in a particular city.
Meals
We will provide all of your meals (with the exception of one evening meal on your night off), including at least one dinner at or from a local restaurant, to encourage you to experience the city’s culture. You will eat breakfast at the Kaleo Center and will either eat lunch back at the Kaleo Center or pack up a sack lunch to take with you when you leave to serve. Kaleo is able to make limited accommodations for food allergies, including providing salads and fruit for as many meals as possible and providing gluten-free bread and lactose free milk. If you need further accommodations, you are more than welcome to bring any additional food that you need.
Transportation
You are responsible for your team’s transportation. All groups must bring adult drivers with vehicles that can be used the entire week to transport project crews to and from sites. If you will be arriving by plane or bus, you will need to make necessary arrangements for vehicles for the remainder of your trip. If your group is over 12 people and needs to be divided, you will need to arrange for separate transportation for each team. Additionally, you will need to leave space in each vehicle for a Kaleo staff member to accompany you to your ministry site. In New York, you will not need vehicles, but you will need to use the OMNY tap-to-pay system for the subway (currently $3.00 per ride, capped at $35 per week).
Financial Deadlines
After paying the deposit for your trip to reserve your dates, you will make a second payment of half the remaining balance six weeks before arrival. The remaining balance for your trip will be due two weeks before you arrive. All required checklist items (forms, waivers, and documents) are also due two weeks before your trip. To assist you, we will send you reminders as these deadlines approach.
Cancellations
When we receive your deposit we will commit your group to serving in various ministries in the city. Your cancellation may be damaging to our reputation as a ministry, to the organizations we serve with and may detract from opportunities other groups would have had to serve. If you wish to cancel your group or reduce the number of participants, you must contact the Kaleo registration department at registration@kaleomissions.org.
If you cancel a participant, the deposit will be forfeited.
Registration amounts paid (less deposit amounts) are refundable when Kaleo Missions is notified at least six weeks before the start of your trip. All monies to date will be forfeited for cancellations less than six weeks from the start of your trip. For cancellations less than two weeks out, you will be responsible for the full cost of the trip.
Insurance
You will need to upload a Certificate of Insurance for proof of coverage through your Kaleo dashboard. This certificate is available from your organization’s insurance provider and should be uploaded as part of your pre-trip checklist.
Additional Questions?
If you have any questions that aren’t answered here, please call us at 940-367-6464 or email us at info@kaleomissions.org. We look forward to working with you!
For a Sample Schedule, click here.